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Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe: A Trilogy of Crime


Adapted by various (iBooks)
ISBN: 978-0-7434-7489-4

If you’re going to adapt classic, evocative crime stories into graphic narrative there really isn’t any better source material than Raymond Chandler. This follow-up to the graphic novel interpretation of Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe: The Little Sister (ISBN: 0-684-82933-9) was also packaged by comics visionary Byron Preiss and adapts three short tales from the master of hard-boiled fiction, rendered in a variety of unique and impressive styles.

Opening the show is ‘Goldfish’, first published in 1949, the writer’s ninth short story sale and preceding his first Marlowe novel by three years. Adapted by Tom DeHaven and lettered by Willie Schubert, it’s stylishly illustrated by British designer and artist Rian Hughes in muted colour tones that have only the merest hint of hue to them; the effect is powerfully evocative and atmospheric.

When ex-cop Kathy Horne sidles into the tough guy’s seedy office she brings a tale of lost pearls, an absconded convict and a huge reward just waiting to be claimed. Dragged far out of his comfort zone and sent up and down the Pacific Seaboard, the world-weary gumshoe is just steps ahead of the sadistic and casually murderous Carol Donovan and her gang of thugs in a superb thriller of double-cross and double-jeopardy.

Next up is ‘The Pencil’, scripted award-winning mystery novelist Jerome Charyn, brilliantly rendered by British comics legend David Lloyd in moody, dry-brush black and white, and lettered by long-term collaborator Elitta Fell. This was Chandler’s twenty-first – and final – Marlowe adventure, published in 1959, shortly after the author’s death. You might know it as ‘Marlowe Takes on the Syndicate’, ‘Wrong Pigeon’ or even ‘Philip Marlowe’s Last Case’.

Hollywood 1955: Ikky Rossen was a bad man, a career gangster and mob leg-breaker. When he crossed his bosses he thought Marlowe could get him safely out of the City of Angels before The Organization’s East Coast Button Men could send him to Hell. Marlowe knew that these were people who should be avoided at all costs and only one thing is always true: everybody lies…

Closing the book and woefully misplaced is ‘Trouble is My Business’ by James Rose, Lee Moyer and Alfredo Alcala, with Schubert again filling the word balloons.

This weak tale of vengeful Harriet Huntress who intends to destroy two generations of wealthy socialites mixed up in the gambling rackets is from 1939: a rather tame and straightforward yarn in comparison to the other stories here, not to mention the landmark first full novel The Big Sleep, also published in that year. Moyer and Alcala do a solid job of illustrating the plot (although it’s a little pretty for my tastes) but the cynical edge that is the hallmark of this brilliant crime creation is muted if not actually extinguished here.

Despite a disappointing end this is a great book of crime comics that any fan will delight in, and the incredible Steranko cover alone is well worth the effort of tracking it down.
Adaptations and illustrations © 2003 Byron Preiss Visual Publications Inc. Original stories “Goldfish” and “Trouble is my Business” © 2003 Philip Marlowe BV (Estate of Raymond Chandler) All Rights Reserved. “The Pencil” © 1971 Helga Greene, Executrix, Estate of Raymond Chandler. All Rights Reserved.

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Robin: A Hero Reborn


By Alan Grant, Chuck Dixon, Norm Breyfogle, Tom Lyle & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-029-1

No matter how hard creators try to avoid it or escape it, Batman and Robin are an inevitable pairing. The first one graduated, the second died (sort of, more or less, leave it, don’t go there) and the third, Tim Drake, volunteered and applied pester-power until he got the job…

Reprinting Batman #455-457 and the first Robin miniseries (#1-5), this volume shows how the plucky young computer whiz convinced the Gotham Guardian to let him assume the junior role in a cracking adventure yarn that has as much impact today as when it first appeared nearly twenty years ago.

‘Identity Crisis’ by Alan Grant, Norm Breyfogle and Steve Mitchell finds the newly orphaned (or as good as: his mother is dead and his dad’s in a coma) Tim Drake as Bruce Wayne’s new ward but forbidden from participating in the life of the Batman. The kid is willing and competent, after all, he deduced Batman’s secret identity before he even met him, but the guilt-racked Dark Knight won’t allow any more children to risk their lives…

However when an old foe lures the lone avenger into an inescapable trap Tim must disobey Batman’s express orders to save him, even if it means his own life… or even the new home he’s just beginning to love.

Following on the heels of that landmark saga Robin got a new costume and a try-out series. Writer Chuck Dixon, and artists Tom Lyle and Bob Smith relate the tale of the apprentice hero’s journey to Paris, ostensibly to train in secret, but which devolves into a helter-skelter race-against-time, as the murderous martial artist Lady Shiva leads the lad into a deadly battle against the Ghost Dragon Triad and Hong-Kong crime-lord King Snake for possession of a Nazi terror weapon.

There’s a breakneck pace and tremendous vivacity to this uncomplicated thriller that would rouse a corpse whilst the exotic scenarios make ‘Big Bad World’ a coming of age tale that any reader of super-hero fiction would adore.

This book is a lovely slice of sheer escapist entertainment and a genuine Bat-classic. If you don’t own this you really should.

© 1990, 1991, 1998 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest


By Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch with Paul Neary, Andrew Currie and Matt Banning (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-404-1

If you’re new to the first family of comic books, or worse yet returning after a sustained absence, you might have a few problems with this otherwise superb selection of high-concept hi-jinks featuring Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing and the Human Torch. However if you’re prepared to ignore a lot of unexplained references to stuff you’ve missed there’s two magically enthralling tales on offer in this chunky tome.

Collecting the contents of Fantastic Four #554-561, the wonderment begins when Reed Richard’s old college girlfriend reappears with a request and proposition he simply cannot refuse. Alyssa Moy is as smart as Richards but she need help finishing her latest project – a fully working replica of planet Earth for the entire race to escape to when (not if) the original is destroyed by climate change and humanity’s abuse.

Designed as the ultimate gated community, disaster strikes when its robotic police/peacekeeper unit “Cap” escapes into the real world. Created to deal with any sign of conflict it goes on a rampage, destroying superheroes and armies alike. Nothing can stop it, but Mister Fantastic has an idea…

Doctor Doom returns for the next mini epic, only to be humbled and abducted by a new team of super-beings who seem linked to the Torch’s new girlfriend. As the body count and collateral damage rises, Reed discovers he’s been betrayed by Alyssa Moy and events spiral to a climax that could wipe-out reality itself…

Tense and gripping with superb art from Hitch and inkers Neary, Currie and Banning, plus evocative colouring by Paul Mounts, these super-science sagas revolve heavily around the FF’s roles as a tight-knit family and the human dramas seldom play second fiddle to simple tights ‘n’ fights action.

Potentially confusing at first, but a cautious, conscious perusal will deliver great rewards for fans of the genre.

© 2008 Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. (A BRITISH EDITION BY PANINI UK LTD)

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Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo Book 1


By Matsuri Akino (Tokyopop)
ISBN: 978-1-4278-0607-9

Spinning off from the original series featuring the enigmatic Count D, which was set in the Chinatown of Los Angeles, this intriguing sequel finds the emporium of unique beasts firmly established in the futuristic Tokyo skyscraper mall called Neo Chinatown in that city’s red light district. Into this enclave of desperate commerciality drifts a troubled mother seeking a dog to protect her young son Shingo.

What the exotic, ambiguous, androgynous Count sells her appears to be another child, but whilst her minds spins, trying to remember just how she became a human trafficker, the eerie child reveals itself to be very far from human but a faithful guardian for all that…

As with the original 10 volume saga, this horror fable is a cautionary tale about making decisions and keeping promises, with dire results for transgressors. The Pet Shop’s most exotic creatures are far from dumb beasts and they always act as supernatural catalysts for people at a turning point in their lives. As the Count carries out his mysterious business amongst a wide and wary clientele we can see an inkling of some greater plan afoot…

Also included in this volume is ‘Door’; a beguiling tale of the Pet Shop in years past when it was situated in Nazi Berlin…

In many ways the tale has much of the flavour of Charles G. Finney’s 1935 brilliantly satirical cult novel The Circus of Dr. Lao (a fantastic, weird morality play/social commentary crying out for broader popular attention – preferably in an edition with the baroque illustrations by Boris Artzybasheff which were inexplicably omitted from many later versions). The fantastic elements of the offered “pets” are a double-edged sword that will alter lives not because the purchasers want it but because change is necessary – and inevitable.

The fabulous creatures stocked by Count D are tailored to reveal the buried secrets and desires of their future owners, and the tone of inevitable destiny does much to flavour this dark, pretty portmanteau yarn. Fans of classic mystery and suspense, as well as manga-lovers will experience a true treat with this compelling series.

This black and white book is printed in the Japanese right-to-left format.
© 2005 Matsuri Akino. All Rights Reserved. English text © 2008 TOKYOPOP Inc.

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Teen Titans: Titans Around The World


By Geoff Johns, Tony Daniel & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-442-5

After the non-stop calamity of the DC Infinite Crisis the company re-set the time line of all their publications to begin One Year Later.  This enabled them to retool their characters as they saw fit, provide a jumping on point for new converts and also give themselves some narrative wiggle-room.

One of the titles that made the most of that creative opportunity was the Teen Titans. In the missing year not only did the characters undergo vast personal changes but the team and the core-concept itself was stretched leaving a broad canvas to tell tales and spring “Big Reveals” on the reader (who after all had only been away for thirty days!).

Collecting issues # 34-41 of the comicbook series, the story opens with team lynchpin Cyborg coming out of a year-long coma caused by injuries received during the aforementioned Infinite Crisis. He awakens to a team he doesn’t recognise, including Rose, daughter of their arch-foe the Terminator, who was actively trying to kill him when he last saw her.

In rapid fashion Cyborg goes into action trashing not only her but also a teen-aged demon, and a couple of preppy teen whiz-kids before Robin intervenes. The Boy Wonder explains that in the past year since Superboy died saving the universe, Wonder Girl has gone solo, Beast Boy/Changeling has returned to the fatalistically surreal Doom Patrol and more than two dozen young heroes have joined – and mostly left – the ranks of the teen super-group.

Determined to pull the Titans back together, they set off to re-recruit some old friends only to fall afoul of both the Brotherhood of Evil and the Doom Patrol themselves, in a taut, devious thriller that perfectly kick-starts the new era. But what is the obsessive secret Robin is hiding from his comrades?

The four-part ‘New Teen Titans’ is by scripter Geoff Johns, penciller, Tony Daniel, with inks from Kevin Conrad, Andy Lanning and Norm Rapmund.

It’s followed by the eponymous ‘Titans around the World’ another four parter that reveals some of the incredible events of that lost year. While Cyborg was recovering, a huge number of troubles super-kids passed through the doors of Titans HQ, but as the new team mentor reviews recordings of that time he is unsettled…

The mystic Raven has disappeared and by checking with some of those past recruits he discovers that the team may have been harbouring a traitor in its midst…

Produced by Johns, Tony Daniel and fellow pencillers Carlos Ferreira, Paco Diaz and Ryan Benjamin, with inks by Conrad, Art Thibert, Drew Geraci, Silvio Spotti, Jonathan Glapion, Michael Lopez, Edwin Rosell, Saleem Crawford and Vincente Cifuentes, this is a thoroughly enjoyable romp in the classic Teen Titans manner that should delight fans of the superhero genre and might even make a few new converts along the way.

This is another fights ‘n’ tights triumph for Geoff Johns who seems determined to revitalize the entire DC pantheon. Surely such a noble undertaking deserves a few brief moments of your time?

© 2006, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Frost and Fire – DC Science Fiction Graphic Novel #3

Adapted by Klaus Janson (DC Comics)
ISBN: 0-930289-07-2
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On a distant world life is harsh and brutal, and debased humans live short, pointless lives. The life-expectancy is eight days.

The planet has a lethal orbit that moves from lethal heat to absolute cold in moments. When the ship crashed uncounted generations ago, the humans found a miraculous twilit valley that could sustain human life, and there adapted and devolved to simplistic survival-machines. They linger between catastrophic day that vaporises flesh and cataclysmic night that freezes the blood, with only one hour a day when the light overhead is tolerable.

In that brief span rains fall, crops grow and humans can luxuriate in light that nurtures, but doesn’t burn.

Man has evolved to an existence both futile and savage, filled with nothing but breeding and dying. Even under these conditions war is still common. Yet young Sim dares to love, and dares to hope. He dreams of a better life, and believes the mythical “scientists” have a way to escape…

Originally published in the pulp magazine Planet Stories this powerful tale of aspiration and determination was collected in Bradbury’s landmark science fiction anthology R is for Rocket, and a short film adaptation entitled “Quest”, was made in 1983.

Klaus Janson’s raw, epic adaptation, which he scripted, illustrated and even coloured enhances the original tale with unexpected sensitivity, and great feeling. This is a fine tale well-told and compellingly illustrated. It’s a great shame it and the other DC Science Fiction Graphic Novels are currently out of print. Collected together they’d make a killer “DC Absolute” compilation…
© 1946 Love Romances Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1974 Ray Bradbury. Adapted with permission of the author. Text and illustrations © 1985 DC Comics Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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The Trials Of Shazam! Volume 2


By Judd Winick, Howard Porter & Mauro Cascioli (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-4012-1829-4

Completing the saga begun in volume 1 (ISBN: 978-4012-1331-2) this book reprints issues #7-12 of the DC miniseries and finds Freddy Freeman, once and future super-hero, now successfully blessed with the wisdom of Solomon and the invincibility of Achilles, but only half the strength of Hercules.

Tasked by the 21st century Gods of Magic to prove himself to each of them before winning their powers and patronage, his rite of passage and super-powers have been hijacked by the deadly teenaged psychopath Sabina De La Croix, who intends to steal the magic of the departed wizard Shazam for her coven of evil sorcerers.

Not only has she intercepted some of the might intended for the boy-hero, but she’s even killed one of the gods that should empower him. Freddy must now find a replacement patron simply to complete the trials…

And if that’s not trouble enough some of those remaining gods don’t want their new lives disrupted. They might kill him before Sabina does…

Great thrills and spills beautifully illustrated by Howard Porter (with Mauro Cascioli providing the art for the last three chapters) make this a terrific read for fans of the genre, but I’m still unhappy at the unnecessary division into two short volumes when one complete book would have been easier, cheaper and a more satisfying package.

© 2007, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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The Trials Of Shazam! Volume 1


By Judd Winick & Howard Porter (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-4012-1331-2

Inexplicably this is the first of two very slim volumes that collect the pivotal miniseries which redefined magic in the DC Universe after the events of Infinite Crisis. The collection itself (gathering issues #1-6 of the 12 part miniseries, plus the relevant prologue section of the one shot Brave New World) isn’t a conundrum. The story rattles along at a fine clip, full of tension, action and spectacle, and there’s even a little humour.

It’s very well illustrated in an epic, lush manner by Howard Porter. All in all, the tale is a solid Costumes Drama. But what I can’t fathom is why the thing is chopped into two halves when it could so easily – and economically – fit into one volume.

In the aftermath of the aforementioned Infinite Crisis (ISBN: 978-1-4012-0959-9), wild, raw magic escaped into all aspects Earth when the millennial wizard Shazam died and the meta-dimensional Rock of Eternity was destroyed (for further details you should also check out Day of Vengeance, ISBN13: 978-1-84576-230 8). The aged mage was the guardian of magic in our universe and his position was hastily, albeit temporarily, filled by Captain Marvel.

When the senior super-hero unexpectedly ascended to the position Captain Marvel Junior and Mary Marvel – who shared the power – were instantly cut off whilst battling supernatural horrors rampaging across Earth.

Months later with the immediate danger forestalled Freddy Freeman (the human form of Captain Marvel Junior) is offered the opportunity to regain his god-like powers and be a hero once more. But in this new era he must earn them one at a time by completing tasks set by the modern incarnations of the patron gods who supplied Shazam with the power…

Unfortunately its not that simple as a coven of demons and magicians have unleashed their own candidate for the Gods’ abilities and she’s a relentless, ruthless psychopath ready to cheat, steal and especially kill to win the ultimate weapon in the new world older of the supernatural…

© 2006, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Batman: Joker’s Asylum


By various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84856-047-5

This slim collection focuses on the A-list villains in Batman’s Rogues Gallery, reprinting five sinister one-shots beginning inevitably with The Joker, who stays on as EC-style host narrator for all the tales from his comfy padded cell at Arkham Asylum.

‘The Joker’s Wild’, by Arvid Nelson with art from Alex Sanchez and colours by Jose Villarrubia, offers a genuinely different slant on the old plot of the homicidal maniac who hijacks a live TV show. This is followed by the Penguin who waddles onto centre stage for a chilling, poignant and very dark love story entitled ‘He Who Laughs Last…!’ by Jason Aaron and Jason Pearson (coloured by Dave McCaig).

Possibly the weakest of these collected tales is ‘Deflowered’ wherein the unearthly floral siren Poison Ivy wreaks her unique brand of vengeance on manipulative fat-cat property speculators in a gory thriller from JT Krul and Guillem March. Luckily it’s followed by the most seductive and compelling yarn in this book of horrors as ‘The Dark Knight of the Scarecrow’ is visited upon a gaggle of High School Bitch-Princesses whose bullying leads to enlightenment of a most instructive and permanent kind, courtesy of the deadly Dr. Jonathan Crane and creative team Joe Harris & Juan Doe.

The savagely tragic Two-Face rounds off the volume in a powerful and challenging tale of tough choices and powerful compulsions. ‘Two-Face, Too’ is by David Hine, Andy Clarke and colourist Nathan Eyring, and while we’re handing out credit Rob Leigh lettered it, as he did all the tales in this superbly creepy walk with monsters in the dire environs of Gotham City.

There’s a lot of Batman material out there and this collection shows that he doesn’t have to be present to cast a long shadow. This is one of the best Bat-books of recent vintage and a worthy addition to any bookshelf.

© 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Millennium


By Steve Englehart, Joe Staton & Ian Gibson, (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84856-094-9

DC Comics third braided mega-series was a bold effort intended to touch all corners of their universe, introduce new characters, tie-in many titles and moreover to do so on a weekly, not monthly schedule.

Hot on the heels of Crisis on Infinite Earths (ISBN: 978-1-56389-750-4) and Legends (ISBN: 978-1-56389-095-6) came Millennium, which saw writer Steve Englehart expand on an iconic tale from Justice League of America #140-141as well as his run on the Green Lantern Corps.

Billions of years ago the robotic peacekeepers called Manhunters had rebelled against their creators. The Guardians of the Universe were immortal and desired a rational, emotionless cosmos – a view not shared by their own women. The Zamarons had abandoned the Guardians at the inception of their grand scheme but after uncounted centuries the two factions had reconciled and left our reality together.

Now they had returned with a plan to midwife a new race of immortals on Earth, but the Manhunters who had infiltrated all aspects of society throughout the universe were determined to thwart the plan, whether by seduction, connivance or just plain brute force. The heroes of Earth gathered to protect the project and confront the Manhunters in their own private lives… and their own comics.

Unfortunately this volume, which only collects the eight-issue miniseries without even a synopsis of those individual tie-ins, is an incomprehensible morass of confusion. In its original form each weekly instalment of Millennium acted as a catalyst for events which played out in the rest of the DC Universe’s comics. Here, without those concluding chapters, the plot and characters bounce about from crisis to revelation to denouement and nothing makes any sense at all.

In addition to the miniseries itself, Millennium spread across 21 titles for two months – another 37 issues for a grand total of 44 comic-books. I know that there might be some small confusion about existing plot-threads in individual titles but nothing like the sheer bewilderment caused by just collecting the core miniseries as a stand-alone book. The target audience is clearly primed – both financially and in terms of story scope – for extended trade paperback series now in the wake of Seven Soldiers, 52 and Countdown to Final Crisis, so why foist this sad, truncated, bowdlerized abridgement on us?

Steve Englehart, Joe Staton and England’s own Ian Gibson may not be stellar names at the moment but this tale was ambitious, bold and highly entertaining, whilst many of the follow-up chapters were incredibly impressive, with individual contributions from such luminaries as George Perez, John Byrne, Kevin Maguire, Kieth Giffen, Jerry Ordway and a host of others. Even if it’s only in the cheap and cheerful Showcase Presents format, don’t the creators and especially the readers deserve the whole story?

© 1988, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.